Submergible surface boat.



0 9 1 Kw Q E D D E T N E T A P .R s E L B H W E 1 SUBMBRGIBLE SURFACE BOAT.

' 2 SHEETS-SHBETL 4522 Wham? APPLICATION FILED HAY 31.1905.

? .No. 806,223. PATBNTBD DEC. 5, 1905. T: H. WHBLESS. SUBMERGIBLE SURFACE BOAT.

APPLIOATION IILED HAY 31. 1005.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

j umrrnn OFFICE.

THOMAS HENRY, WHELESS, 'OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

a SUBIVIERGIBLE'} SURFACE. BOAT.

To all whom it mag concern: Beit known that I, THOMAS HENRY WHE- LESS, a'citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Submergible Surface Boats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to.which it appertains to make and use the same- Myinvention relates to s'ubmergible surface .boats; and it is intended more especially to relatesto boats havingvery fine lines with deep 5 draft and narrow beam,- which are intended to. have. very little free-board, which will run very fast along. the surface of the water and zmay be readily submerged when. desired, and which will run at high speed when submerged.

5 My inv.ention will be understood'by reference tozthe accompanying drawings, in which 1 the same parts are indicated by the same letters-throughout e v l v w Figure -l grepresentsjla side elevationqof the l 5 preferred form ofboat. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the-device shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 1, 5, and 6'show the contours of'thecrosfs-sections along the lines 33,44, '5 5, and 6 6, respectively, of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 shows a side eleva- 3 tion of a slightly-modified form of boat. Fig. 8 is a plan of the device shown in Fig. 7, and

V a j Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 indicate the contours Referring first to Figs. 1 to 6, A represents .the waist portion of the boat, 'B the bow portion, and C the overhanging stern portion, thecross-sections of the various portionsbeing indicated in Figs. 3 to 6, respectively.

Drepresents a conning-tower which is located above the waist portion and is preferably elongated in form and curved fore and aft, as at 0Z, provided-with bulls-eyes d andwith man- .holes and covers 61 Y v I .represents the deck, which is slightly curved upward toward the midship-section .and tapers fore and aft downward, terminating at practically the water-line .ww when Q the boat is properly trimmed and loaded for 5 cruising. a

E represents a screw-propeller which is drivenby any suitable engine low down in e the waist of the boat.

F represents thesteeri'ng-rudder, and G the ldiving-rudders. The propelling mechanism Specification of Letters Patent.

Application-filed May 31, 1905- Serial No. 263,079.

Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

keel is'indicated atH of Figs. 1 and 5. 5

Referring now to-the form of boat shown in Figs/7, to 12, there is along and sharp bow portionB, a deep, sharp, and narrow waist portion A, and a comparatively shallow and broad stern portion C. The keel or weights 7 -H\and the other parts of the device are substantially thesame as have been described with ,reference to Figs. 1 to 6.

I The form ofboat shown in Figs. 7150,12 has substantially the same. under body as is described and claimed in my application entitled Improvement in the construction of vessels, filed October 14, 1903, Serial No.

177,031; but the superstructure is so changed as to adapt the boat to be submerged when desired. It will be seen that'in all the formsof construction herein shown the boat has exceedingly fine lines, with very narrow beam and great depth in the waist, and that the weights are carried at the lower part of this Waist portion, thus giving the boat great stability, and this position of the weights near the center tends to permit the boat to be turned readily about the center in diving or rising. Fu'rthermore, the sharp wedge-shaped how not only permits the boat to speed very fast through the water when either awash or submerged, but also reduces the resistance todiving when the diving-rudders are'set for diving. Further- 5 more, the shape of the boat enablesit to cut throughthe waves, and thus limits pitching, while the disposition of the weights in the waist portion insure great stability in a cross sea.

It will be noted that the line of greatest buoyancy of the boat is very high up, owing to the flaring shape ofthe cross-sections throughout, the greatest beam of any crosssection being practicallyat the deck-line.

Thus by having the buoyancy well up and the weights well down great stability is secured and the boat even if rolled over by a seawill immediately resume the upright position.

' It willbe seen that the maximum draft of no the waist portion, including the body of the hull, but excluding any exterior keel, (not shown,) is in excess of the maximum beam of said waist at the water-line. In the drawings this proportion is shown as about two to one; but these proportions may be varied so long as the depth is maintained in excess of the beam. As was explained in my application Serial No. 177,031, the state of the art shows that the object aimed at was to secure a boat that would skim along the surface of the water and in which the motive power tended to force the boat upward the faster it traveled. Such boats have small draft compared to their maximum beam at the water-line, and the necessary stability is secured by added fin or bulb keels. The object of my invention is to provide a boat which will cut through the water and will not tend to skim along the surface of the water at all and in which the waist-section is made very deep and sharp, so that the machinery and weights may be placed low down inside of the hull proper. Furthermore, by having the machinery placed low down the propeller-shaft may be installed in a horizontal position, so that any tendency of the propeller to lift the stern due to an inclined propeller-shaft may be obviated and also the driving thrust of the propeller may be more eflicient. Moreover, by having the propeller at some distance below the surface of the water it acts on the water under pressure and diminishes the slip.

By having the boat of deep draft in the waist portion not only is it possible to have the weights located deep down below the line of flotation, thus increasing the metacentric height, but this construction also affords suit able space for installing the engines and for the convenience of the crew.

Finally, by having the boat running practically awash and with an extremely narrow beam she could with difficulty be observed by an enemy, and, if observed, it would be diflicult to strike with a projectile.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l 1. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body, a narrow waist deeper than the beam, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the maximum width of each cross-section being at the top of the sides, substantially as described.

2. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body, a narrow waist deeper than the beam, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the maximum width of each cross-section being at the top of the sides, and the lower portion of the waist being weighted, substantially as described.

3. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body, a narrow waist deeper than the beam, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous, and the maximum width of each crosssection being at the deck-line, with a deck tapering slightly downward toward thebow and stern, substantially as described.

A. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body, a narrow waist deeper than the beam, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, the lower portion of said waist being weighted, and the maximum width of each cross-section being at the deck-line, with a deck tapering slightly downward toward the bow and stern, and an elongated conning-tower mounted in the deck above the waist portion, substantially as described.

5. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body merging into a narrow waist deeper than the beam, the latter curving up rapidly into a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the lower portion of said waist being weighted, substantially as described.

6. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body merging into a narrow waist deeper than the beam, the latter curving rapidly into a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the lower portion of said waist being weighted, with a deck tapering slightly downward toward the bow and stern, substantially as described.

7 A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body merging into a narrow waist deeper than the beam, the latter curving rapidly into a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the lower portion of said waist being weighted, and each cross-section of the hull having its greatest width at the 'top of the sides, substantially as described.

8. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow fore body deeper than the beam and wedge-shaped in vertical cross-section, the said fore body merging obliquely downward into a deep and narrow waist also wedge-shaped in vertical ITS cross-section and deeper than the beam,;and a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contour-lines of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, substantially as described; 9. A marine vessel adapted to run along the surface of the water or to be submerged when desired, comprising a sharp and narrow 'fore body deeper than the beam and wedge-shaped in vertical cross-section, the said fore body merging obliquely downward into a deep and narrow waist also wedge-shaped in Vertical cross-section and deeper than the beam, anda shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contour-linesof the hull of'the boat being continuous curves, and the lower portion-of said waistbeing weighted, substantially as described.

10. A marine vessel comprisinga wedge.- shaped sharp and narrow fore body, a deep and narrow waist, the draft of which to the bottomof' the hull proper is'greater than the maximum breadth of beam of said waist, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, substan tially as described.

11. A marine vessel-comprising a'wedgeshaped sharp and narrow fore body, a deep and narrow waist, the,draft of which to the bottom ofthe hull proper is greaterthan the maximum 'breadth'of beam of said waist, and

a shallow overhanging stern portion, all the contours of the hull of the boat being continuous curves, and the lower portion of said waist being. weighted, substantially as described. p

12, A marine vessel comprising a wedgeshaped sharp and narrow fore body, a deep and narrow waist, the draft of which to the bottom of the hull proper is greater than the maximum-breadth of beam of said waist, and 4 desired, comprising a wedge-shaped sharp and narrow fore body, a deep and narrow waist,

the draft of which to the bottom of the hullproper is greater'than the maximum breadth of beam of said waist, and a shallow overhanging stern portion, the lower portion of said waist being weighted, with a deck tapering slightly downward toward the bow an stern, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS HENRY wH LEss.

Witnesses: l

Gno. A. BYRNE, J os. H. BLAOKWOOD. 

